What is Kerry's viewpoint on gun control?

[NickB79]

I was hoping Dean would go all the way, but after seeing the results in Iowa tonight I'm not sure he will make it. This leaves me between a rock and a hard place on what other candidates I would support. No, I'm not a single-issue voter, but I do place a lot of weight on a candidate's views on gun control (I am against new gun control legislation). With Dean I was satisfied because he recieved an A-rating from the NRA, but if he doesn't make it I don't know if I'd feel comfortable voting for other candidates for president. Please don't flame me or call me a Repub. just because I like guns, hunting and target shooting. It is my hobby/sport and no amount of chastizing here will change how I feel about gun ownership, hunting or gun control. I just want to know where Kerry stands on the various topics of gun control (1994 AWB, background checks at gunshows, mandatory child safety locks, waiting periods, outright bans, etc). Thank you.

[Township75]

1. Kerry wants more gun control

mandatory child safety locks with every sale, renew (maybe expand) the assualt weapons ban, no immunity from municipalities' lawsuits against gun manufacturers...and can't remember if there is anymore.

[...Alltogethernow]

3. That's enough!

... NO NEW GUN LAWS!

[Fescue4u]

8. Ouch!

Thats to bad. He would have made a good president.

I doubt that a gun grabber is electable right now.

[displacedtexan]

2. Here'a a bit of info...

Kerry Stands Up to NRA's Divisive Agenda in Letter to Blacklisted Americans


October 30, 2003

For Immediate Release
Washington, DC -

Democratic candidate for President John Kerry wrote a letter to the hundreds of individuals, celebrities, authors, religious organizations, and businesses blacklisted by the NRA, to join him in standing up to the divisive agenda of the gun lobby and standing up for gun safety.

In a letter to the many prominent Americans put on the NRA’s publicly advertised “anti-gun” list, Kerry said, “The NRA’s blacklist is the modern day equivalent of Richard Nixon’s enemies list. This blacklist is precisely the politics of division and distortion that have turned too many people away from participating in the process. We can’t let the NRA scare people into silence. I know what it’s like to be targeted by the NRA, and I refuse to sit idly by during my campaign for the presidency while they push their divisive agenda on America and slander those who stand up for gun safety.”

Kerry also promised to continue his fight for gun safety during his campaign for the presidency: “Why should those on the NRA blacklist courageously risk their livelihoods when Democratic candidates for President aren’t willing to stand up against powerful interests and risk their political capital? I believe that standing up for gun safety is important, and I refuse to be a candidate who retreats from the issue out of political fear or one who tries to have it both ways. I’m a hunter and a gun owner, but I’ve never gone hunting with an AK-47. I’ll stand up to the NRA when they call law enforcement officers ‘jackbooted thugs’ or stand in the way of common sense efforts to keep the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of felons and children. The Democratic Party will never be the choice of the NRA—and I’m not looking to be the candidate of the NRA.”

The full list of individuals being blacklisted by the NRA can be found on the website www.stopthenra.com The Kerry campaign is also asking Americans to sign the petition started by the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom march and join the NRA’s blacklist.

Here is an example of the letter:


October 30, 2003

Jerry Seinfeld
Shapira/West Associates
141 El Camino Drive, #205
Beverly Hills, 90212

Dear Jerry Seinfeld,

As I scanned the pages of the New York Times this morning, I couldn’t help but notice the new ads taken out by the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom March to stop the NRA’s assaults on mainstream American values. As you may know, the latest of these attacks features a blacklist with your name on it.

Though it is not surprising that the NRA would publicly advertise a 19-page list of individuals, celebrities, authors, religious organizations, and businesses it describes as “anti-gun,” it certainly is infuriating. The NRA’s blacklist is the modern day equivalent of Richard Nixon’s enemies list. This blacklist is precisely the politics of division and distortion that have turned too many people away from participating in the process. We can’t let the NRA scare people into silence.

I know what it’s like to be targeted by the NRA, and I refuse to sit idly by during my campaign for the presidency while they push their divisive agenda on America and slander those who stand up for gun safety.

Why should those on the NRA blacklist courageously risk their livelihoods when Democratic candidates for President aren’t willing to stand up against powerful interests and risk their political capital? I believe that standing up for gun safety is important, and I refuse to be a candidate who retreats from the issue out of political fear or one who tries to have it both ways. I’m a hunter and a gun owner, but I’ve never gone hunting with an AK-47. I’ll stand up to the NRA when they call law enforcement officers ‘jackbooted thugs’ or stand in the way of common sense efforts to keep the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of felons and children. The Democratic Party will never be the choice of the NRA—and I’m not looking to be the candidate of the NRA.

We can stand up for safety in America and keep guns out of the hands of children and felons and still respect the Second Amendment of our nation—and if the NRA wants to blacklist us for that position, then I am ready to wear it as a badge of honor.

If you share my feelings, I ask you to join me in my campaign for the presidency, as I stand up for the values we hold dear, and a politics that elevates—not denigrates—the public discourse in America.

Warm Regards,

John Kerry

[ParanoidPat]

4. Would you please repost this in.....

.....the correct forum. :) The rules page prohibits posts mentioning candidates from the GD forum. There is a forum called General Discussion Primary 2004 for posting about candidates. Thanks. :)

[NickB79]

12. Sorry about that

I didn't realize mentioning candidates was prohibited here. Heck, I didn't even realize there was another General Discussion forum :-) I spend most of my time on the LBN forum. Moderators, if you need to lock or move my post, thats fine. Thanks.

[wuushew]

5. NRA nuts will never vote for a democrat

it conflicts with the positive self-image of themselves overthrowing a corrupt government by means of violence. Even though the excercise of such may endanger the safety of others and is based on an amendment referring to the right of states to organize militas.

[Redneck Socialist]

6. Wrong.

There a lot of lost Dem's who are looking to come home, but the perception that the Democratic party is going to take everyone's guns away keeps them voting pub.

[wuushew]

7. Who has ever lost a gun because of a liberal?

If these people cannot reconile reality with myth then they should not be voting for either party.

The nation will not descend into "California Maddness" as the NRA puts it.

[Fescue4u]

9. To answer your assumption

A number of californians lost their SKS's to gun grabbers in California.

However the real answer is that no REAL liberal supports gun control.

REAL liberals protect the entire consititution and take a liberal read of all civil rights, including those protected by the 2nd ammendment.

For some reasons, some so called liberals are liberal are most issues, but conservative on gun civil rights.

[wuushew]

11. And Kerry is going to sign these liberal gun laws passed by the congress?

Or is he going to do it by executive fiat?

Lets face political reality here. Don't you want a candidate who is the most attractive on issues like tax progressivity and environmental issues?

And people DO fall into voting blocks, how many voters are gay minority pro-gun people purely on principle? Its not just guns many though not all pro-2nd ammendment voters are also conservatives, there is a correlation. Pandering to one issuse compromises others.

[Redneck Socialist]

14. Unfortunately politics doesn't have much to do with reality.

It does however have a lot to do with perception and the perception out there, correct or not is that Democrats are anti gun. I am a lot more interested in winning elections than I am in continuing to wander in the wilderness of ideological purity.

We can bring these voters back to the party and we should do so.

[NickB79]

13. Well, I'd probably fall into the catagory of NRA nut

Seeing as I am a paying NRA member, have been for several years now, and own several firearms. However, I was also going to vote for Dean, a Democrat, without feeling any conflict of interest. I have also heard this from many other "NRA nuts" on numerous hunting forums I visit as well. And you wouldn't believe how many hunters and fishermen are majorly pissed at Bush for his handling of the environment. An attitude like yours is alienating millions of potential voters from voting Dem. Using phrases like "gun/NRA nuts" is what helped Gore lose in 2000. The stereotypical image of all gun owners as redneck hillbillies drinking beer and shooting Bambi, and the disrespect that comes with it, cost Gore numerous votes across the US and arguably the presidency. Unless we all want a repeat of the 2000 election, it would be best to work towards making friends, not enemies.

The other argument in your post, about the 2nd Amendment being a state or individual right, is best discussed on the Justice forum, so I will not get into that. Peace.

[...Alltogethernow]

15. Hey, I'm an armed female, an NRA member and DEMOCRAT so ...

... don't stereotype please. Dean has a decent position on gun control; one much more palatable then "I'll take on the NRA as president" line out of Kerry.

[lcordero]

10. Your view is a lot more "moderate" than mine since I believe

that a law-abiding citizen shouldn't have to get a "license" or ask for permission from anybody to own a gun.

BTW...I also believe that guns rights is a "civil right" and that people who go to prison to pay their debt to society earn ALL of their civil rights back when they complete their sentence.

[Moderator]

16. Locking

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